The year is winding down; metrics and reviews are mostly behind us, and as staff members disappear to year-end vacation... View Article
Continue readingMost regulations get little attention
Anyone can comment on federal regulations but few -- outside the regulated industries and entities -- do.
Continue readingDark money group takes aim at potential Obama appointee Chuck Hagel
A committee that spent more than $300,000 in dark money to defeat President Barack Obama this year is now spending more to offer advice on whom he should appoint to his cabinet.
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, seen at right, hasn't run for office in a decade, but he now is the target of a negative TV ad, thanks to widespread reports that the president is poised to nominate him as a replacement for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who has signalled that he wants to retire at the end of Obama's first term.
MORE: Hagel alumni in defense ...
Continue readingHagel appointment would give some lobbyists a friend in the Pentagon
Reports that President Barack Obama will tap former Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican who had as many arguments with his own party as he did with Democrats, for the top job at the Pentagon has led some special interests to launch an ad campaign against him. But for former aides to the Cornhusker senator working for clients in the defense industry, Hagel winning the top job in the military means having a friend in a high place.
Lobbyists who once worked for the Nebraska lawmaker represent a host of companies that do business with the Department of Defense. Their clients ...
Continue readingSitegeist: A Week After Launch
Exactly one week ago we launched Sitegeist, an app to learn more about your surroundings through visualizations of publicly available data. We are immensely proud of Sitegeist and thrilled by the response!
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/20/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- House Ethics changes rules: The House Ethics Committee held a 5 minute long public meeting to approve a package of rule changes designed to streamline future investigations. One change relates to when documents and testimony should, or must, be released publicly. (Roll Call)
- Study panel STOCKed: The National Academy of Public Administration named the five experts who will study the possible effects of putting some federal personal financial disclosure statements online. Congress requested the study in response to repeated concerns about how the STOCK Act requirement could effect employee privacy and national security. (Federal Times)
- IT Dashboard not being updated: The Federal IT Dashboard, which contains the president's budget and interactive data on agency spending and is intended to help agencies address duplicative IT investments, has not been updated since August because of the continued spending standoff. (Federal Computer Week)
- EPA e-mail investigation: Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, is under fire from Congressional Republicans and the EPA's IGA for her use of a secondary e-mail account. Republicans are questioning how transparent the EPA has been while handling electronic records. Meanwhile, the EPA claims using two emails is a long standing practice. (Washington Post)
- Open data that appeals to city dwellers: Cities around the United States released datasets that allowed developers to create apps that were useful to citizens and improved public health and safety. (Atlantic Cities)
- Turkey fined for blocking sites: The EU has fined Turkey for blocking Google Sites, stemming from a 2009 case brought by a Turkish citizen. Turkey blocked all pages hosted on sites.google.com after finding one page that insulted Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Turkey's long history of internet censorship could be a stumbling block in its quest to join the EU. (Tech President)
Feds mull looser regs on armor-piercing bullets as Obama calls for end to gun violence
The federal agency that regulates guns is considering requests for an exemption to the ban on armor-piercing bullets.
Continue readingThe Sandy Hook Shooting, Speech, and Campaign Cash?
Do campaign contributions affect the likelihood that a member of congress has publicly spoken out after the Sandy Hook School shooting? The answer appears to be yes, and by a lot. Our review found that a representative who received significant campaign support from the NRA was more likely to keep his or her mouth shut about the shooting -- speaking out at 2/3s the rate of an average member of congress.
Continue readingSunlight from the Command Line
Are you as big of a fan of Paul Tagliamonte as I am? If so, then you are well aware of python-sunlight, his awesome, comprehensive Python API client for Sunlight's APIs. The latest release includes a command line interface, or CLI, so you can interact with the Sunlight APIs directly from the shell. Cool, right?
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/19/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Cabinet continues to opt for secrecy: Nine out of 15 cabinet offices have still not disclosed the cost of travel by top officials after Bloomberg asked for the documents under the Freedom of Information Act in June. (Bloomberg)
- House vote planned on Hatch Act changes: The House of Representatives planned to vote Tuesday on changes to the Hatch Act and another bill that would impact policies related to federal workers, political activity, and misconduct. (Washington Post)
- 10 years of e-government: Former government officials recently came together to discuss progress made since the E-Government Act of 2002, which was passed with the goal of making government more accessible online by the public. (FCW)
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